


Theory of Interpersonal Relationships

by greendale_student



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22044184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greendale_student/pseuds/greendale_student
Summary: After Troy and Britta break up, Annie and Abed hang out in the blanket fort and think about their relationship.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Abed Nadir
Comments: 3
Kudos: 94





	Theory of Interpersonal Relationships

As Abed steps into Apartment 303, the room is warm, pleasant after the winter cold outside. The lights are dim, blending with the glow of the streetlights through the windows. It’s 7:10, after Troy said they could come back, but Britta is still here, strained conversation audible from Troy’s room as she gathers her things. “I told you we should have waited longer,” Annie whispers nervously as she enters the apartment behind Abed. Abed says nothing; it’s in character for Annie to feel awkward intruding on the aftermath of Troy and Britta’s break-up, but he was already involved by doing a lot of the breaking up for Troy and he needs some data to figure out how this would affect the group.

Britta sticks her head out of the bedroom door. “I’ll be out in a couple minutes,” she explains, then pushes the door closed. Abed hears soft conversation in the bedroom, but can’t make out the words. Not bothering to turn any lights on—the place looks more like an aesthetically pleasing movie set in the dark—he heads for the blanket fort. Abed expects Annie to retreat to the privacy of her room, but she follows him into the fort, glancing around furtively. Of course; just because she feels awkward around Troy and Britta doesn’t mean she’s not curious about their relationship drama.

“Do you want to, uh, watch TV?” Annie asks. Abed knows neither of them is really focused on that, but they might as well plan the evening’s entertainment.

“I don’t know if Troy plans to join us, but _Inspector Spacetime_ is always popular. Here’s some classic episodes with Constable Reggie—or, if you prefer, some with Geneva.” He gestures to the relevant DVDs on the shelf.

“Let’s watch those!” Annie smiles, her face catching the orange light from outside. Abed’s distracted by the visual for a moment; the dimly lit blanket fort feels both cozy and intriguing, and something in the sight of her standing there seems like a freeze-frame from the sort of classic Greendale adventure that’s been harder to find this semester. Turning away from the shot he was visualizing before Annie asks why he’s staring, Abed picks a DVD and brings it to the TV.

Before he hits play, Britta emerges from Troy’s room with a handful of items she’d left there and exits the apartment with a wave. Troy walks to the blanket fort, but stops at the door. “I’m just going to read our history assignment, goodnight,” he announces in a terse manner. “Thanks for the help today, Abed.” With that, Troy retreats into his room.

Annie watches the door, looking like she does before she tries a little too hard to help someone with chores or schoolwork. “He’s all right,” Abed reminds her. “They were kind of distant for a while, he just didn’t know how to handle breaking it off.”

Abed wasn’t sure that would dissuade Annie from trying to get Troy to talk, but she turns to face him with an expression he can’t read. “I guess this is sort of our anniversary too,” she says, gesturing to the DVD cover with the Inspector and Geneva in a showdown with Blorgons. “Maybe I should have listened to you about tampering with the fabric of the group.”

Abed is surprised she mentioned that; Troy and Britta’s first date is the kind of thing she usually celebrates, not her more offbeat adventure running scenarios with Abed. But then, that adventure had taught Abed that her motives were more complex than TV cliches implied. He shakes his head. “No, I think they’ll both learn from the relationship and find it helped with their character development. Not only that, but by clearly resolving their relationship it’s made the dynamics of the study group a bit less confusing, which could simplify any further romantic arcs.”

Annie laughs softly, stepping a bit closer to Abed. “Britta was pretty eager to help Jeff with his father, maybe there’s still something there.”

Abed thinks she might be right, but he’s surprised Annie was the one to suggest it. “Jeff has been pretty eager to do stuff with you, too,” he points out warily.

Annie laughs again, louder and less intentional this time. “You know the Dean was pretending to be Jeff to be part of your Freaky Friday homage?”

Abed nods, unsure how it’s relevant. “I respect his commitment to the part, but I’m not so sure about his acting skills.”

“I was— _flirting_ with him,” Annie confesses. Abed raises his eyebrows, startled by the idea and already mentally reviewing what he knows about her preferences. “A half-baked impression of the attitude he puts on for show, and I’m—I put all that effort into trying to make something happen between us, is it really that shallow?”

“You know Jeff better than that—well enough to know what’s an act,” Abed tells her. “And there’s nothing wrong with enjoying some role playing. In a sense you were being a better actor than the Dean. He was being the person Jeff wants people to think he is, you were playing yourself interacting as you would with the real Jeff.”

Annie stares at the blankets for a moment while she figures that idea out. “I do care about Jeff a lot,” she says, playing with her hair in a contemplative manner. “It’s just, sometimes I think it’s the version the Dean was trying to be that made me want more than friendship.”

Abed mentally revises his calculations about their dynamic. He hadn’t expected Annie to voice such doubts about her flirtation with Jeff, but she had hinted at them when they were running scenarios the day she set up Troy and Britta’s first date. “Character archetypes can be pretty compelling, it’s not surprising if they affect how you feel, even if it is an act,” he tells her. Not for the first time, Abed wonders if he’s supposed to allude to her interest in his characters during some of their adventures. As usual, he decides to cautiously avoid the subject. He joins Annie on the couch and reaches for the remote, but she turns to look at him, seemingly not done talking.

“I messed up setting you up on a date, too,” she says. “I wouldn’t have guessed Rachel was your type.” Abed hasn’t told Annie that he hasn’t kept in touch with Rachel. He had thought she would be disappointed, even if she wasn’t the one to introduce them. Now it seems like telling her might make her feel better about her matchmaking skills. But somehow he feels nervous about mentioning it, like he needs to run some scenarios to figure out Annie’s motives before he would know what to do. Better to watch _Inspector Spacetime_ now and plan to review some of his notes on the study group.

“Well, maybe you just get out-of-character when you’re in a competition with Shirley,” Abed jokes, remembering that Annie had been talking to the Dean because of a dispute about Valedictorian rankings. Annie laughs again, more relaxed this time, and leans against Abed slightly as they focus on the episode, leaving aside questions about Rachel. This would make a pretty shot, too, the two of them in the intimate setting of the blanket fort.

Annie snuggles against Abed on the couch, feeling partly surprised that she shared all that stuff about her and Jeff with Abed, partly as if she should talk to her roommate like this more often. She should ask about Rachel, she realizes; it would be nice to invite the same kind of confidences, and it’s just a convenient coincidence that she’s feeling very curious about it. But Annie is supposed to root for Abed’s relationship to succeed, and she looks at Abed nervously as she realizes she’s not as enthusiastic as she thought she would be. At school or around the rest of the study group, she might keep talking about Rachel and try to advise Abed like she’d helped Troy and Britta navigate their relationship. Here, in the blanket fort with just Abed, Annie is thinking of his mention of role playing and character archetypes, wondering what he’d think if she asked what was going on between them during Dungeons and Dragons and paintball. She usually assumes she shouldn’t ask. After their kiss during paintball, he’d implied that his characters were just acting as the plot of each imaginary scenario dictated. Why wouldn’t he prefer dating someone like Rachel, who could trade pop culture references with him so efficiently?

It’s in cozy moments like this that Annie wonders if there’s more to it than that. What would Abed think if she told him that she’s imagined finding a reason to contrive another _Star Wars_ scenario, or slipping into the blanket fort at night and asking him if he’d like to play that elf maiden character again? She reminds herself of his warning against tampering with the fabric of the group. And maybe she should consider where she stands with Abed when she’s not freshly frustrated about her matchmaking attempts or awkwardness with Jeff. Still, she hugs Abed and smiles brightly at him as she watches the episode, wondering if he’s thinking about the same things.


End file.
